Toshiba Senior Classic: Unlikely duo, but typical finish

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - It wouldn’t be the Toshiba Senior Classic if only

one player was atop the leaderboard after the first round.

And, in typical heroic style for this Senior PGA Tour event at Newport

Beach Country Club, there were last-hole dramatics Friday from the final

group.

While Dave Eichelberger feels destined to win the sixth annual Toshiba

Classic, his co-leader, come-out-of-nowhere Roy Vucinich, is surprised to

be mentioned in the same breath with the elite five-under-par 66

shooters.

“I was hoping to just have a decent round, but five-under is as low as

I’ve been this year,” said Vucinich, a former club professional for 27

years, who, unlike most of his brethren on the senior tour, loves the poa

annua greens at Newport Beach.

Eichelberger, the easygoing veteran with the strong Texas accent, is no

stranger to Route 66 on a golf course: He shot 66 last week in the second

round of the LiquidGolf.com Invitational at Sarasota, Fla., and has had

other impressive early rounds this season.

“I’ve put myself in position to win this year, but I haven’t played well

on Sunday,” Eichelberger said. “I haven’t put it all together, but this

week’s going to be different.”

That’s as strong a statement as Eichelberger will make, but don’t count

on any deep insights into his game.

“I really don’t ever have a strategy or goal each day. I just start on

the first tee and try to hit it as far as I can and try to knock it in

the hole and shoot as low as I can,” he said. “I really don’t have a

plan, so to speak.”

Eichelberger, still the Toshiba Classic record holder for a first-round

score (63), accomplished during the inaugural event at Mesa Verde Country

Club in 1995, was alone atop the leaderboard for most of the afternoon,

until Vucinich sank a thrilling 30-foot birdie putt on 18 to tie

Eichelberger, after most of the estimated 12,500 fans had gone home.

“I’ll keep trying to shoot low (scores),” Eichelberger said. “I hope to

shoot 62 (today) and 61 on Sunday.”

Each year, it seems, there’s a logjam after the first round. There were

three leaders in 1997 and four leaders in each of the last two years.

Eichelberger was first up in this one. In the seventh group to tee off

Friday morning, he made only 23 putts with his new stance and putter, an

Odyssey 550.

“Ever since the first of the year, my putter has been going very well,”

said Eichelberger, who has already fired five rounds under 70 this

season.

Eichelberger, 56, enjoyed his finest season on the senior tour last year,

winning two titles -- the U.S. Senior Open and the Novell Utah Showdown

-- and finishing 17th on the money list at $882,532.

So much for the proverbial window of opportunity for seniors to cash in

between ages 50-55.

“I’m not sure exactly why,” Eichelberger said, when asked why he’s

getting better with age. “Last year was my best year ever. I’m always

working on my swing, working on my grip, and working on my stance, and I

try to play a lot in the winter. That’s the key for me, to just play a

lot of golf.”

With six birdies and one bogey, Eichelberger has put himself in a

position to win again. He two-putted and birdied the par-five hole No. 3,

then made the turn at two-under when he birdied No. 9, hitting a pitching

wedge to 35 feet, then knocking in the long putt.

On the back nine, Eichelberger opened with a birdie on the par-four No.

10, using a sand wedge to get within 10 feet of the jar.

Eichelberger made a 20-foot putt to save par at 12, then bogeyed No. 13,

when he missed the green and failed to get up and down.

He rebounded, however, by making back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to

climb atop the leaderboard.

On 18, Eichelberger was in trouble in the right rough, but chipped over

the Toshiba scoreboard with a sand wedge from 40 yards out, then drained

an eight-foot birdie putt to go to five-under.

“I was trying to hit the driver on my second shot (at 18) and I got all

tangled up. I was lucky it didn’t go out of bounds,” Eichelberger said.

“I just hit a loft over the scoreboard (onto the green). I could’ve taken

a drop if I wanted to, but my ball was in the grass and the drop (area)

was almost in bare dirt. The scoreboard didn’t hurt much. I could see the

flag well. It was just set over the scoreboard and a tree. I was really a

simple shot.

“Yeah, I guess it looked good on TV.”

In the final group, Vucinich played a bogey-free round, making birdies at

4, 8, 12, 15 and 18, to tie Eichelberger for the lead.

“Obviously I played well with a five-under 66, and that’s (better) than I

expected,” Vucinich said. “I struggled on two holes, five and six, but I

saved par on both. I missed only three greens all day. I put the ball in

the fairway a lot and put the ball on the green a lot.”

On 18, Vucinich got stuck off the tee in the right rough near a thick

pine tree, but cut a four-iron out of trouble and left it 71 yards to the

hole. From there, Vucinich hit a lob wedge 30 feet past the pin, but

still on the green.

“I knew (the putt) was to tie for the lead,” said Vucinich, who calmly

sank the long birdie putt for a share of the top spot. “With my career

being as young as it is, it was a thrill playing with Jack Nicklaus and

Arnold Palmer (during the Florida swing) in front of those crowds. But

(today) will be different. I’ve never led or been tied for the lead

before in a tournament of this size.”

A former club pro at Allegheny Country Club outside of Pittsburgh,

Vucinich finished eighth at the 1999 Senior PGA Tour National Qualifying

Tournament to earn his exempt status this year.

“These are beautiful greens here,” Vucinich said. “That poa annua is good

stuff. That’s the kind of grass we have in Pittsburgh.”